OUR FOUNDER TOMAS BJÖRKMAN

Tomas Björkman is an entrepreneur and financier who, over the past 25 years, has established innovative international companies in the banking and real estate sectors. His journey in entrepreneurship, combined with a profound interest in societal and scientific inquiry, culminated in the founding of the Ekskäret Foundation in 2008.

In his foreword to Mark Drewell and Björn Larsson’s book "Changing the World We Create," Tomas shares the motivation behind his enduring commitment to the foundation:

“In my twenties, I had the choice between an academic career in theoretical physics or the world of commerce. I chose the latter and spent twenty-five years in business. Eventually, I sold my company to one of Switzerland’s larger banks continuing for a time to serve on its board. But the call of the world of ideas was irresistible. 

My background in theoretical physics and as an entrepreneur in information technology, investment banking and property development had allowed me to learn about and view our existence from both theoretical and empirical perspectives. My personal drive increasingly became to unlock the hidden structures of the world around me. I sought to bridge many academic fields including cognitive neuroscience, developmental psychology and sociology. I started searching for connections that form the evolving whole. 

This curiosity led me to spend a decade researching and writing “The World We Create”. I also established the Ekskäret Foundation to facilitate the co-creation of a more conscious society. 

From a historical and material perspective, the majority of humanity is no doubt doing better than ever; but at what cost? We live in an unfolding and ever more urgent climate crisis. And our polarised societies seem guided by ineffectual leadership. 

My take on the world is that it is no longer enough to simply “solve problems”. The complexity and inter-relationship between problems mean that all our challenges have elements relating to human thought and emotion. We have to re-orientate by better learning how to evolve and adapt. I use the phrase “we have to”, because we are at what physists term a bifurcation point. Our civilisation will either go forward at a higher level of more complex organisation, or break down. 

In short: we need to shift our minds and our hearts on a grand collective scale. We need new, deeper ways of relating to ourselves, to each other and to the world. We also need “new maps” of our very existence as the current ones are both antiquated and increasingly revealed as inaccurate. The good news is that humanity has undergone major collective shifts before! My work is dedicated to contributing to increasing our chances of doing that again, while there is (still!) time.” 

Read more about Tomas Björkman at www.tomas-bjorkman.com.

TALKS BY TOMAS BJÖRKMAN

BOOKS BY TOMAS BJÖRKMAN